[Bêthberry]

Interesting point about the nature of the heroine.

There's lots of evidence garnered by elementary school teachers in North America--and I don't know how it would break down vis-a-vis Canada versus US--that elementary school girls will read books with heroes of both genders but that elementary school boys will not read books with girl heroes. This is not an absolute, hardfast characteristic, but it is quite substantial, extensively documented, especially among educators who are concerned about the reading gap between girls and boys. Is this trait limited to North America or can it also be found in European education?

So, if little North American boys don't like or want to read books about little girls, perhaps that trait carries over to male choices about movies as well, and also into adulthood? It didn't seem to apply to The Wizard of Oz, but we are no longer in Kansas now.